Shoes that Tone Your Butt? The Truth Revealed.

After watching the commercials and seeing all the hype, I must admit that I was significantly influenced to go out and by myself a pair of the Reebok EasyTone shoes. Toning shoes are all over the media these days. Who doesn’t want to be able to put on a pair of shoes and eventually get hot buns and thighs? Count me in! But after doing my own research and looking at studies that have recently been conducted by reputable universities, I think I’m going to pass on the miracle shoes. Here is why.

The shoe companies claim that these shoes cause minor instability, similar to that of instability balls at the gym on a much smaller scale. This instability results in more muscles working and thus more toning in the legs, butt and thighs. If you read reviews online, such as Amazon.com, people who have worn these shoes find that their muscles are sore afterwards. So the shoes must be working, right?

Well not entirely. According to WebMD, the soreness is most likely attributed to the muscles working in different ways, but not enough to warrant claims of overall toning. The muscles quickly will adapt to the odd instability before your buns become steel.

A study was done at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse with four different pairs of shoes (3 toning brands and 1 regular tennis shoe). 12 active women between the ages of 19-24 wore the shoes for 12 five minute intervals on the treadmill. Researchers then monitored how hard they worked. A second test group of women between the ages of 21-27 performed similar tests while wearing the shoes. Researchers then looked at muscle usage while wearing the shoes. The results? There was no significant change in calories burned or muscle usage when comparing the four shoes.

So, this sucks because I was really looking forward to buying a pair of these shoes. People say they do feel better for people who put a lot of pressure on their heels when standing and walking. Maybe there are people who would just like the shoe for the comfort factor. Still, don’t be expecting to walk in these shoes for a few days and end up with the kind of legs and buns seen in the commercials. For those results, looks like it’s exercise and diet that win again!